Battle of Circinius IV (Earth-5875)
The Battle of Circinius IV was one of the earliest battles between the United Nations Space Command and the Covenant during the First Contact War, in Circinius IV, on April 26th, 2526. It was one of the first engagements which saw the deployment of SPARTAN-IIs to battle. Prelude Following the brutal first battles against the Covenant on Shanxi and Chi Ceti, the Office of Naval Intelligence kept the existence of the alien hegemony a secret from the human population, which included the citizens of Circinius IV, and as such, the staff and cadets of the Corbulo Academy of Military Science, with the exception of General Daniel Black. Black discreetly prepared for the attack, increasing the garrison of UNSC Marines posted in the academy, as well as the limited communications blackouts in the guise of routine procedures. History The Covenant launched its attack on the human colony on April 26th, 2526, with three ''SDV''-class heavy corvettes entering the planet's atmosphere from ''CCS''-class battlecruisers and launching attacks at the planet's cities, including the Corbulo Academy. The Marines stationed at the installation were the initial line of defense of the academy, helping to evacuate its staff and cadets through the school's space elevator. Vessels of the UNSC Navy eventually deployed a large contingent of ODSTs, directly into the campus. One of the corvettes approached, however, and readily destroyed the space elevator, which collapsed onto the school, killing hundreds and stopping the evacuation efforts. Only moments later, those who survived the crashing were attacked by sangheili and kig-yar warriors. is killed during a firefight against the Covenant.]] The academy's staff and cadets were caught off-guard and overwhelmed by the attack, with General Black being killed minutes within the first deployment of Covenant warriors. When Colonel Kennedy Mehaffey attempted to rally the surviving cadets to evacuate to the school's tunnels, she was killed by a kig-yar with a needle shard through her heart. The Covenant troops were then able to slaughter the Marines and ODSTs, and soon after killed the entire population of the planet. The four remaining cadets of Hastati Squad: April Orenski, Thomas Reyes, Chyler Silva, and Michael Sullivan, became the only survivors of the entire planet. SPARTAN-II Blue Team was then sent after answering the distress beacon sent by the four. Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 was able to infiltrate the school and rescue the cadets from a sangheili Zealot. He then contacted Kelly-087, who arranged them a D77-TC Pelican extraction. After confirmation of the vehicle, John broke one of the academy's weapons lockers and armed the cadets so they could defend themselves. climbing the last mgalekgolo.]] As soon as the five of them reached the exterior of the academy, they were ambushed by three kig-yar Snipers, who managed to wound Sullivan. John and Silva were able to kill the trio of snipers, they escaped from the area in the personal M12 Warthog LRV of General Black. As they left to the nearby forest, they were attacked by kig-yar, who killed Silva with a needle round and forced the others to retreat. As soon as they stopped in the jungle, the four came under attack by two mgalekgolo bond-brothers. While John was able to kill one of them after wasting all the ammunition of his MA5D assault rifle, he was left with a single grenade, thus deciding to use it against the surviving mgalekgolo and buy time for the cadets to escape in the Pelican. Reyes, however, chose to distract the massive alien while John tactically approached it. As Reyes drew the attention of the mgalekgolo, John climbed the massive alien and planted a grenade into its lekgolo, which blew up, killing the entire colony. With the arrival of the morning, Blue Team finally arrived on their Pelican, as the Covenant was glassing the planet. Impressed with Reyes' courage and bravery, John gave him a piece of the mgalekgolo armor. Aftermath After the battle, a group of Marines, including Edward Buck, conducted Operation PHALANX on the planet. With the deaths of most of the planet's population, the events of the battle had a lasting impact on Thomas Reyes, who became inspired by John-117 and remained at the UNSC, eventually rising to become the captain of the [[UNSC Infinity (Earth-5875)|UNSC Infinity]]. Reyes and John would meet again in the forerunner shield world Requiem. Category:Earth-5875 Category:Events of Earth-5875 Category:Battles of Earth-5875 Category:Battles of the First Contact War (Earth-5875) Category:Created by Draft227